Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 149: Expelling the Tartars and restoring the Liao territory

Zhu Youjian knew that the Qing Dynasty would replace the Ming Dynasty, and that Hou Jin had the ambition and potential to conquer the Central Plains.

Therefore, he regarded Hou Jin as an enemy completely and did not consider negotiating peace at all.

But if there is no negotiation for peace, then there is no negotiation for peace, and the connection between the two parties cannot be completely severed. Whether it is exchanging prisoners or soliciting surrender, someone needs to have the authority to communicate.

So after Zhu Youjian considered it, he decided:

"I authorize the minister Shang Fangjian to make decisions on foreign exchanges in the frontline combat zones."

"But it must be confirmed by the guards and Jin Yiwei, and the documents must be reported to the court."

"The minister who was given Shang Fangjian was also given a seal of talismans, and in the name of the emperor's envoy, he replied on behalf of the Ming Dynasty."

This is to authorize foreign affairs to ministers with Shang Fangjian, and treat them as righteous and false yue. At the same time, Zhu Youjian reiterated:
"The correspondence between the rest of the people and Jianlu will be treated as collaboration with the enemy from now on. No matter what is promised, Ming Dynasty will not recognize it."

"There were no regulations before. Only those who were confirmed to have collaborated with the enemy would be dealt with, and those suspected would only be transferred."

"But from now on, all unauthorized communications will be treated as collaboration with the enemy and treated as spies."

Mao Wenlong, who was listening next to him, breathed a sigh of relief.

Because he has been recruiting Liao people and even recruiting people to surrender, it is impossible not to have contact with people from Hou Jin. If private correspondence is investigated and dealt with as collaborating with the enemy, then he cannot explain clearly.

Fortunately, the emperor only pursued clear acts of collaborating with the enemy, and in the future he authorized ministers with Shang Fangjian to communicate with foreign countries. His recruitment of refugees and surrender will not be affected.

At the same time, in order to prevent the people below from messing around, Zhu Youjian made it clear to everyone:
"The Ming Dynasty and Hou Jin Dynasty are enemies, and dealing with them is just out of etiquette."

"But no one can have any thoughts of peace, nor can they write in letters."

"I can tell you that there can only be one, the Ming Dynasty and the Hou Jin Dynasty, and they can never coexist."

"Mao Wenlong, tell everyone about the people who died in Liaodong, and let them know what happened to the people of Liaodong after the fall."

When Mao Wenlong heard the emperor's words, he immediately recounted Hou Jin's orders such as "Kill the Han people who have no food."

Although the ministers in the court knew that the Jianlu were cruel, they did not experience it personally. Now I heard that the Jianru people killed all the Han people who had no food in order to save food, and I have a deep understanding of their ferocious nature——

If you negotiate a peace with such an unreasonable enemy, even if you reach a peace agreement, will they abide by it?

It would be better not to discuss peace at all to avoid affecting military morale.

It is hard to say how much effect Yuan Chonghuan's private peace negotiations had on Jianlu, but it caused a huge shock in the Ming Dynasty and in the official circles of Liaodong.

Of course Mao Wenlong opposed the peace negotiation, especially after Yuan Chonghuan negotiated the peace, which gave the tributary country North Korea an excuse, making him very embarrassed in North Korea.

Now in the court, Mao Wenlong happily recounted some of the sufferings of the Liao people, and Mao Wenlong still said:
"His Majesty sent documents to record the military and civil affairs of Liaodong, and they recorded them in more detail."

"I thought it would be published in a book and made known to the whole world."

Zhu Youjian nodded in approval and said:
"Not only should it be published in a book, but it should also be serialized in newspapers."

"Everyone in the world must know that the war between Ming Dynasty and Hou Jin Dynasty was a battle between civilization and barbarism."

"There is only one winner in this war. Once we are defeated, civilization will be lost and our country will not survive."

Hating the massacre of the people of Ming Dynasty by Hou Jin Dynasty, and even more worried that Ming Dynasty would be destroyed by Hou Jin Dynasty, Zhu Youjian continued:

"No one can mention the peace talks again."

"That's fine if we didn't explain it before. Anyone who dares to suggest peace in the future will be dismissed immediately!"

He also told Sun Chengzong and Zhang Daojun:
"Superintendent Sun and Commander Zhang went to Liaodong to clean up not only the peace-negotiating faction of Liaodong generals, but also other people who advocated peace-making."

"In short, there must be only one voice in Liaodong: fight with Hou Jin and regain our land."

"The soldiers of the Ming Dynasty must use the weapons in their hands to seize cultivable land for the people of the Ming Dynasty!"

After setting this principle, Zhu Youji thought of the anti-Qing slogans of later generations and said:
"Taizu once said in his message for the Northern Expedition: Drive out the barbarians, restore China, establish principles and discipline, and save the people of Sri Lanka."

"Today the Meng Yuan has been destroyed, the Hulu surrendered to the Ming Dynasty, and the Jianlu became the new enemy."

"So the slogan from now on is: drive out the Tartars, restore the Liao territory, serve the country with loyalty, and pacify the world."

"Tell the officers and soldiers of Liaodong that they must have the heart to serve the country with loyalty and the ambition to restore the land of Liaodong."

"When the world is peaceful, I will personally guard the city gate and receive the meritorious soldiers."

The words were categorical and compared with Taizu's statement. All the ministers realized the emperor's determination to pacify Liao in the future.

Especially for generals such as Mao Wenlong, when they heard the emperor compare Ping Liao with expelling the Huru, they thought of the titles granted to Taizu when he founded the country, and then thought of the emperor's continuous improvement of the status of generals after he ascended to the throne, and even posthumous titles for Qi Jiguang and others. I even felt in my heart that after Liaodong was pacified, there would definitely be a Spyge, and maybe even a duke. This feeling of following a wise king and making great achievements made them feel so excited that they couldn't help themselves.

Mao Wenlong immediately knelt on the ground and expressed his loyalty to the emperor:
"I swear to follow Your Majesty to the death and restore the Liao territory as soon as possible!"

The ministers also had to kneel down and express their determination to the emperor together:
"I will assist Your Majesty in driving out the Tartars, restoring the Liao territory, serving the country with loyalty, and bringing peace to the world."

Zhu Youjian was extremely satisfied with the unified thinking of the ministers. Asking all the ministers to stand up, Zhu Youjian said:
"You don't have to bow down all the time. There are not so many empty rituals in front of me."

"You are all ministers and you should have the decency you deserve."

In order to make the ministers more dedicated to their achievements, Zhu Youjian said to the ministers:

"I ordered people to renovate the Ziguang Pavilion in Xiyuan a few days ago and changed its name. It will be called Ziguang Pavilion from now on."

"There are famous ministers in the Purple Pavilion in the Ming Dynasty. I plan to sort them out and display the virtuous and meritorious ministers from the founding of the country and Jingnan in the Purple Pavilion."

"Those who have made great achievements are called the Purple Pavilion Meritors, and their portraits are hung in the Purple Pavilion. Biography is written by a bachelor of the Hanlin Academy, recording the chronology and deeds——"

"Let their great achievements be praised forever!"

When the ministers heard this, their breathing became rapid.

If it was the military commander who was excited just now, now it is the civil servant.

They didn't care much about titles, but the title Zige Xianchen couldn't help but make their hearts flutter.

Especially the heroes of the Purple Pavilion whose portraits were hung by the emperor are clearly comparable to the heroes of the Yuntai Pavilion of the Han Dynasty and the heroes of the Lingyan Pavilion of the Tang Dynasty.

After these people hang their portraits in the Purple Pavilion, their names will surely spread throughout the Ming Dynasty, and even be praised throughout the generations——

They had to accept the temptation offered by the emperor.

Knowing that civil servants yearned for a posthumous reputation, Zhu Youjian watched their reactions and said calmly:

"I have initially determined that the number of heroes of the Purple Pavilion should not exceed twenty, including Yu Qian, Zhang Juzheng, Qi Jiguang, etc."

"Others whose merits are second to them are called the wise ministers of the Purple Pavilion."

"There are no portraits of virtuous ministers in the Purple Pavilion, but their biographies are also displayed in the Purple Pavilion for the monarchs and ministers of the Ming Dynasty to see."

"A plaque was given to the family and hung in the family temple."

"I hope you can work hard and be ranked in the Purple Pavilion in the future!"

This encouragement made the officials feel itchy, wishing that the emperor would immediately explain it clearly and set the standards for the Purple Pavilion Meritorious Officials and the Purple Pavilion Wise Officials.

The emperor clearly mentioned Yu Qian, Zhang Juzheng, and Qi Jiguang as the heroes of the Purple Pavilion. They are the benchmarks. The merits of others may be lower than theirs, but not much lower.

Yang Shiqi, Yang Rong, Yang Pu, Hu Hui, Shang Ren, Li Dongyang, Xie Qian, Liu Jian, Wang Shu, Liu Daxia, Yang Yiqing, Yang Tinghe, Zhang Fujing, Xu Jie... How many of these civil servants can be selected?
Wang Ji, Wang Yue, and Wang Shouren, the three kings and counts who were born as civil servants and were knighted for their military merits, as well as Jiang Gui, Yang Hong, Guo Deng, Liang Yue, Sun Boring, Zhu Qian, Zhu Yong and other military generals who were knighted. As well as Yu Long, Qi Hu and Dong Li Xima, the four generals who were posthumously awarded titles by the emperor, can they all be selected?

Thinking of the great achievements of these people, most of the officials present had no confidence in the heroes of Zige. But Zige Xianchen, they must fight for it.

After all, there are twenty places for Purple Pavilion Heroes, and there must be more places for Purple Pavilion Meritorious Officials than there are for Purple Pavilion Meritorious Officials.

As long as the emperor relaxes the standards, the number of wise ministers in the Purple Pavilion is likely to exceed one hundred.

Until the Ming Dynasty established its cabinet, the total number of bachelors was only one hundred and twenty. If most of these people can be selected, many people here will also have a chance.

For example, Huang Liji, the emperor has been saying that he assisted in ascending to the throne. If Zige’s meritorious ministers are not up to the standards, how can Zige’s virtuous ministers be no good? As long as he can do a few things that will leave a name in history, the emperor will definitely display his biography in the Purple Pavilion.

There was also Sun Chengzong, who supervised Liaodong as a bachelor and made great achievements. As long as he puts Liaodong in order according to the emperor's requirements, the quota of Zige's wise ministers will be within easy reach——

It is even said that if Liao can be defeated, it is possible to become a hero of Zige.

This made the ministers present feel very excited!
It can be said that the Purple Pavilion established by Zhu Youjian successfully aroused the minds of ministers.

Let them pay more attention to their posthumous reputation and work hard to build their careers.

　"Da Ming Huidian" welcomes meals and water dragon chants:

　　The fragrant mist is thick and the purple pavilion is heavy. I look up to the heaven and see the emperor's face.

　　The stars are bright and the sea is moist, and the sweet rain is gentle.

　　The music is more beautiful than the kite, the auspiciousness is like the phoenix, and the scroll of Asong is presented forever.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)